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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29687691">oathbreaker</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rikubraveheart/pseuds/rikubraveheart'>rikubraveheart</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ace-centric pieces [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Introspection, Not A Fix-It, Not Beta Read, Portgas D. Ace-centric</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:33:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,258</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29687691</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rikubraveheart/pseuds/rikubraveheart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>All the promises Portgas D. Ace made and broke, and the one he managed to keep.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco &amp; Portgas D. Ace, Makino &amp; Portgas D. Ace, Masked Deuce &amp; Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy &amp; Portgas D. Ace, O-Tama &amp; Portgas D. Ace, Portgas D. Ace &amp; Sabo, Portgas D. Ace &amp; Yamato</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ace-centric pieces [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2181669</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>oathbreaker</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i was sad so i made this bye. i'm working on happier one piece fics i promise but sometimes you just have to write a bunch of ace angst to feel better am i right. i wrote this at 2am too so double the feels. also it's not beta-read so excuse me for any mistakes.</p>
<p> <a href="https://twitter.com/rikubraveheart">follow me on twitter i'm funny sometimes and i talk about the asl brothers a lot (@rikubraveheart)</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>I. Luffy</b>
</p>
<p>Ace’s words play often in Luffy’s head during his time training with Rayleigh.</p>
<p>When it happens, he does his best to think about his crewmates, about their meeting once the promised two years are over. But it doesn’t always work and, even when it does, there is always a lingering pain in his chest, right where the burn Akainu left him is.</p>
<p>“I promise, I will never die!” Ace had told him. A lie. Every night, when he goes to sleep right next to the campfire (and isn’t it funny, how something that used to be simply fire now reminds him of Ace too) he hears those words time and time again as he remembers Ace’s life slipping between his fingers.</p>
<p>He remembers all the times Ace had repeated his promise on the nights he wept over Sabo. For all the times he told him men shouldn’t cry, he sure made sure to comfort him when he needed it.</p>
<p>But in the end, it is all in vain. Ace is gone, just like Sabo.</p>
<p>He’s never getting either of them back, but he’s going to keep his own promise to them. They had promised to live their life without any regrets, and Luffy is going to become Pirate King even if it kills him.</p>
<p>Ace, in his last moments, had told him he trusted he’d fulfil his dream, and Luffy intends to prove him right. He is his little brother, after all.</p>
<p>
  <b>II. Makino</b>
</p>
<p>When Makino had met Ace, she had seen a little boy with too much sadness in his eyes, who had been through too much for someone his age. But she had also seen Luffy’s influence and the way he seemed to brighten up a bit when they were around each other. </p>
<p>She had thought she could do good.</p>
<p>Makino knew that, whatever had happened to Ace’s biological family, she would never be able to replace his mother, nor did she want that. She had thought she could be to him what she was to Luffy: a token figure to go to whenever he needed it (as much as she saw how much Dadan cared for the boys, she also knew she could not really provide that).</p>
<p>So she started to go up the mountain more often. She brought them clean clothes, food, and even some books to help them learn (although they probably didn’t read them). And it was one of those days she caught Ace looking at her with a pensive face.</p>
<p>“Is everything alright?” she had asked.</p>
<p>“Do you really keep count of Luffy’s treasure tab?” he had asked.</p>
<p>The question had surprised her, but she had answered anyway. “Well, yes. I know Luffy, and I want to be prepared for the day he comes crashing into the bar demanding to pay his tab.”</p>
<p>The thought had made her giggle. Somehow she had never doubted that day would come.</p>
<p>The look on Ace’s face had changed from pensive to determined. “Okay! Start keeping count of what I owe you too.”</p>
<p>She had wanted to say there was no need, but the way Ace was looking at her was the exact same way Luffy looked at her when he talked about his own tab, and so she knew there was no fighting it.</p>
<p>When she had accepted, Ace had smiled at her and said, “I’ll pay you back, I promise!”</p>
<p>Never had she once thought it would remain forever unpaid.</p>
<p>The day the newspaper reports the death of Firefist Ace, she closes the Party Bar and doesn’t open it back up for a while. She takes the paper where the old bar tab is written from the bottom of the drawer it’s stored in, and cries herself to sleep.</p>
<p>
  <b>III. Deuce</b>
</p>
<p>Portgas D. Ace had changed Deuce’s entire life, that was a fact.</p>
<p>From giving him a new purpose to giving him a new name, to even providing him with a family who actually cared about him—needless to say, he would follow him anywhere. So, when Ace had decided to join the Whitebeard Pirates, he had followed him there too.</p>
<p>It had turned out to be a fantastic decision. The tiny family that had been the Spade Pirates had become part of the entourage that were Whitebeard’s sons, and every single one of them had been welcomed in with open arms.</p>
<p>He didn’t see Ace as much, but that was fine. He knew the man was happy with the duties he had been given as Second Division commander, and he couldn’t blame the other Whitebeards for wanting to have their own time to bask themselves in the sunlight that was Portgas D. Ace.</p>
<p>And, still, he always came back to Deuce. So it’s not like he had anything to complain about.</p>
<p>Everything had been fine and seemed to get progressively better until Thatch had been murdered.</p>
<p>Deuce was more than familiar with Ace’s anger. As his first mate, he'd had to hold him back more times than he would have wanted. So, when Ace’s anger had resurfaced upon the injustice of their brother’s murder, he had tried to make him see reason.</p>
<p>“You can’t go after Teach,” he had said. “It’s too dangerous. Even Pops says so.”</p>
<p>No matter the reasoning, though, Ace had not listened.</p>
<p>“Listen, I’ll be careful, alright?” Ace had said. “Teach was under my command. I can’t just let him walk away free.”</p>
<p>Deuce had sighed. “You promise?” he had asked.</p>
<p>Ace had looked at him with amusement, and Deuce was completely aware of how childish he was sounding. But he could not shake the feeling of dread, that something was going to go wrong.</p>
<p>“I promise,” Ace had finally answered.</p>
<p>As the screams of Ace’s beloved little brother reach him, as he sees the smile on the lifeless body of his captain (because, no matter the crew, Ace had never stopped being his captain) he wishes he’d been more insistent. He should have known that for Ace, when it comes to his own safety, promises are worth nothing.</p>
<p>All that Ace gave him is gone now. No family, no purpose, and no name—because, without Ace, there cannot be Deuce.</p>
<p>
  <b>IV. Marco</b>
</p>
<p>When Marco had met Ace he had frankly thought he was funny. The way he kept trying to kill Pops would have been threatening if he had had any chance against him, but as it happens it was just funny to see him fail repeatedly.</p>
<p>Then he had noticed the loneliness. It was something he had often seen in his siblings before they joined the crew, people who had nowhere to belong and no one to understand them. </p>
<p>So he had started approaching him. He was hostile, understandably considering that for him the Moby Dick was enemy territory. But, with a little help from Thatch’s food, he had started bringing his guard down. It all had paid off the night he had asked him about their relationship to Pops—and soon, he had gained a new brother.</p>
<p>When Ace had filled the position of Second Division commander, it had almost felt like it was always meant to be his.</p>
<p>Almost everyone on board of the Moby loved Ace, which was an impressive feat considering the size of their crew, and even though the boy gave everyone his smiles regularly Marco never stopped feeling like he was never completely okay. Still, the only thing he could do was be there for him.</p>
<p>Truly, the only times in which whatever shadows seemed to haunt him disappeared were when he talked about his own little brother.</p>
<p>Marco, like many other people, had tried to warn him about the danger of going after Teach.</p>
<p>“What’s with you all today? Deuce already gave me this lecture,” Ace had said. “Listen, I promise I’ll come back and we’ll have a big feast in Thatch’s honour once that damn bastard is dead.”</p>
<p>Marco had sighed and accepted. After all, if Deuce hadn’t convinced Ace, no one would.</p>
<p>Then the war had happened.</p>
<p>Now, Marco stands before the graves of his father and his brother. His family is in shambles, and they’ve lost so many people. But he keeps it together because with Pops gone the weight of what is left of his family is on his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Well, Ace, I wouldn’t quite call this a party,” he says, cynically. “At least say hi to Thatch for me.”</p>
<p>
  <b>V. Tama</b>
</p>
<p>Tama trains hard every day to become a kunoichi worthy of being part of Ace’s crew.</p>
<p>Ever since he had landed in Wano, everything had changed for her. Sure, the village still has food problems, and she still rarely eats, but she has something else now. Now she has hope.</p>
<p>On the especially bad days, when her stomach hurts so much she can barely move, she tells herself it’s part of her training and remembers the better times when Ace was still with them.</p>
<p>When the Spade Pirates had washed up on the shore, everyone had taken it as a blessing and robbed them of all their provisions without thinking twice about it. They were so hungry they couldn’t even feel bad about robbing those people or even wondered about what that could mean for them. They had just wanted to eat.</p>
<p>It had been a surprise when the pirate had simply freed himself without any trouble and approached Tama. She had honestly thought she was about to die.</p>
<p>But then he had smiled and gone to get them more food instead.</p>
<p>Ace had stayed weeks with them, and Tama remembers them as the best time of her life. So she asked him to take her away. He had refused and instead had promised her that he would come for her when she had turned into a strong, bewitching kunoichi.</p>
<p>Tama accepted and enjoyed the time she had left with him instead, at least until she had fulfilled her part of their promise.</p>
<p>So Tama keeps training with her master, and sometimes looks out at the sea with a smile on her face daydreaming about the day Ace will come back for her.</p>
<p>
  <b>VI. Yamato</b>
</p>
<p>Every day, Yamato waits for Ace to come back.</p>
<p>Yamato and Ace had met in battle, and he had unexpectedly found an equal in someone who was supposed to be an enemy. It was not every day pirate crews were brave enough to step foot in Wano, least of all to fight his father head-on.</p>
<p>Portgas D. Ace was reckless, but he was also one of the few people to ever be able to match Yamato in battle.</p>
<p>And even more unexpectedly, Yamato found understanding in the heat of the battle. When Ace spoke of Yamato and his father, he spoke from the heart. Like he <em> understood </em> him.</p>
<p>So, for the first time, Yamato had enough. Together, they destroyed the symbol of his father’s power.</p>
<p>That’s how Yamato made his first real friend. They drank sake together, and Ace told him stories of the outside world, of things Yamato couldn’t even begin to imagine. He told him about his little brother, whom he believed would become the greatest pirate of all. And Yamato made a decision. He would sail out to sea, no matter what.</p>
<p>In the end, without his father there, Ace had no reason to stay and so he left, but not without promising Yamato that he would return. </p>
<p>With his friend’s brand new Vivre Card in his hands, Yamato asked, “We’ll meet again, right, Ace?”</p>
<p>Ace didn’t even hesitate, “Of course!”</p>
<p>When the Vivre Card crumbles right before his eyes, Yamato’s heart weeps for his lost friend. It’s not until several days later that he gets a hold of a newspaper and hears about the circumstances of Ace’s death. Silently, he hopes his friend’s beloved brother made it out alive.</p>
<p>As it turns out, another newspaper makes its way into his hands, and as he reads about Luffy’s actions in his return to Marineford, his own resolve strengthens. He’s going to go out to sea, and not even his father is going to stop him.</p>
<p>
  <b>VII. Sabo</b>
</p>
<p>Sabo wonders how it all came down to this.</p>
<p>Having his memories back feels like both a blessing and a curse. He’s gotten part of his identity back, but the price was higher than he could have ever imagined.</p>
<p>Standing in front of his brother’s grave with a bottle of sake in hand, he wishes he had never taken that boat all of those years ago. He thinks about Luffy, about how he must be feeling thinking he lost both his brothers, and silently curses himself.</p>
<p>All those years ago, he had written Ace a letter of farewell. He remembers everything about it, almost like it hasn’t been a decade since he wrote it, even the feeling of the ink as he wrote the words that have brought them to this exact moment.</p>
<p>When he had asked Ace to look after Luffy, he hadn’t expected this outcome. He had thought Ace would take care of him in their years of separation, only to reunite with his brothers once all of them were out in the sea.</p>
<p>“I didn’t ask for this,” he mutters to himself as he pours three cups of sake. </p>
<p>One of his brothers is gone, dead keeping a promise Sabo asked him to make. But he still has Luffy, and this time it’s his turn to promise that he’ll protect him no matter what.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry, Ace,” he says. “Leave it to me.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>again, you can follow me on my twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/rikubraveheart">@rikubraveheart</a> or subscribe for my user if you don't want to deal with my dumb thoughts. more one piece fics coming after this one because i'm obsessed.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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